Energy and the Environment

Abstract

Any retrospective look at the fundamental changes of industrial civilization in the seventh decade of the 20th century will have to note the sudden emergence of two critical concerns as energy supplies and the state of the environment were added to perennial worries ranging from economic growth and unemployment to crime and the arms race. And the longer the hindsight, I believe, the greater will be the amazement that it took so long to elevate these essential concerns to their rightfully prominent places in scientific inquiry and in the making of public policy.

Keywords

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We as a species, aided by the industries at our command, have now significantly altered some of the major chemical cycles of the planet. We have increased the carbon cycle by 20 percent, the nitrogen cycle by 50 percent, and the sulphur cycle by over 100 percent. As our numbers and our use of fossil fuels increase, those perturbations will grow likewise. What are the most likely consequences?